Daddy's Little Girl
by RadiantBeam
Summary: In her relationship with Vivio, Lutecia faces her biggest challenge: Nanoha. ::One-shot:: ::Vivio x Lutecia:: ::Subtle NanoFate::


**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

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**Daddy's Little Girl**

Lutecia sighed, wincing as her right shoulder throbbed in agony as she walked down the hallway of the Mid-Childan TSAB ground base. From the very beginning, she'd known that her job would make her do things she didn't like; her instructors had been very blunt about it when she'd first signed up at ten years old. The unit she'd been assigned to in her early teens was still considered in its infancy, a small team that focused specifically on studying villains and rooting them out of hiding when they disappeared from the map.

In most cases, to be very honest, it translated into long, dark nights in a seedy bar, flirting with some son of a bitch who was only interested in getting in her pants, never mind the fact that she was nineteen to his fifty-nine. The purple-haired woman shuddered at the image and muttered as the motion made her shoulder ache again. Last night had been a smashing success: the man had been put behind bars after a brief tussle, and all Lutecia was left with now was to hand her report in and to find Caro or Erio to snap her shoulder back in joint.

It took all of her willpower and then some not to scream as she was tackled from behind; the pain was hot and sharp, but as she heard her attacker giggle like a fool Lutecia decided she could endure it as she reached back, gently brushing the shorter girl's cheek. "Hey, Vi." She paused for a moment, smirked. "School uniform?"

"Yeah, no practice today." Vivio gave Lutecia a gentle squeeze before releasing her, easily stepping to her side. "Fate-mama came back from her mission today, and the bedroom door's been closed ever since." She paused, grinned, and did a little turn, her skirt flaring up a bit at the edges. "What do you think?"

Lutecia thought that if she didn't have amazingly strong willpower, she would have tackled Vivio right then and there. Her recent onslaught of missions and her avoidance of the younger teen prior to their getting together had caused her to miss out on a great deal of her budding high school career, and as a result she hadn't even seen her school uniform. It was more or less an older, slightly risqué version of the uniform she'd worn when she'd been six.

_Her skirt's definitely gotten shorter, though…_

"Nanoha-san must have had a heart attack," the purple-haired woman commented mildly, but her gaze was appreciative. Vivio grinned and bounced on her heels, stepping closer to her girlfriend. Her expression changed as she noticed the masked discomfort floating in her burgundy eyes. "Hey. What's wrong?"

The taller woman shrugged and immediately winced, one hand flying up to cradle her throbbing shoulder. "Nothing special. I had a mission last night, and the guy got a good grip on my shoulder." She grimaced. "I meant to find Erio or Caro to snap it back into place, but I haven't seen them yet."

"Hold still, Cia."

Narrowing her eyes, Vivio reached up and gripped Lutecia's shoulder, her fingers digging in to get a firm, hard grip, standing up on her tiptoes to complete the action. Understanding what she was about to do, Lutecia took a deep breath and braced herself. Moving fast, Vivio yanked on Lutecia's shoulder, and was rewarded with a sharp click; Lutecia yelped and hissed out a breath, shuddering as hot pain coursed through her shoulder in retaliation to the action. Vivio released her immediately, stepping closer and gently cupping her cheek. "Cia?"

"I'm okay." Lutecia smiled reassuringly, covering Vivio's hand with her own. "It feels better now. Thanks, Vi."

Vivio's curved in response, and unable to resist she leaned in, gently touching her lips to Lutecia's in a light kiss. It didn't last long; with a sigh Lutecia pulled back, though her arm had moved of its own will and had hugged Vivio to her chest. "I've got to go," she murmured. "I still need to give General Yagami my report. She supervises my branch and she's had her eyes on this guy for awhile."

"Mou, no fair." Vivio pouted, but her eyes gleamed playfully. "Well, if that's the case, then I get one more kiss. I need to go to a study group with some of my friends for the test tomorrow." She reached up and gently gripped the collar of Lutecia's shirt, causing the older woman to lift a brow.

"You're getting pretty assertive lately," Lutecia murmured, amused by the fact.

"Ah, you love me anyway."

"Wouldn't want you any other way."

Lutecia sealed the words with a kiss.

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At a relatively young age Lutecia had mastered the art of writing out her report while walking, if only because she hated being in an office filling out sheets of paper that, when worded right and thought through prior to being jotted down, only took a few minutes to complete. It was a talent that had earned her much eye-rolling from her peers, particularly Subaru, who was infamous for her hatred of reports and paperwork in general.

Due to this, the report was more or less completed by the time Lutecia reached the door to Hayate's office, pausing for a moment to scribble down some quick finishing sentences. Relieved that she'd gotten it out of the way (and afterwards, now had plenty of time to hunt down that damn bottle of Aspirin that Megane was always misplacing), Lutecia knocked on the door, as was custom, before pushing it open and stepping inside. "General Yagami? It's me, Alphine. I finished my report."

Since she was still scanning over her report to make sure she hadn't made any errors or missed any crucial information, the purple-haired woman failed to notice that the woman who glanced up at her entrance bore absolutely no physical resemblance to Yagami Hayate. Blue eyes gleamed in amusement and lips twitched, but the woman more famously known as the White Devil hadn't forgotten her mission. "No need to be so formal, Lutecia-chan," Takamachi Nanoha teased, giving in to the smile when Lutecia looked up. "You're practically family, you know."

All things considered, Lutecia had never thought that she would ever be afraid of Nanoha. She knew how powerful the Earth born mage was and respected her accordingly, but there was no forgetting the fact that she'd been best friends with Vivio for nine years now and had come to view Nanoha (and, consequently, Fate) as a surrogate mother.

However, she didn't quite like that gleam in the brunette's eyes.

And she and Vivio had ceased being just friends for awhile now.

Bracing herself for what was to come, Lutecia smiled slightly and closed the door behind her, placing her trust in Nanoha's hands. "Nanoha-san. What a surprise. Vivio mentioned that you were still home with Fate-san."

"Nyahahaha, I was, but Hayate-chan called and begged me to stop by and fill in for her for a few hours. Rossa's sick as a dog right now, and she doesn't want to leave him alone for a second."

Following duty first, Lutecia walked across the room and handed her report to Nanoha; her fingers brushed the older woman's and it took all of her willpower not to shudder. Strength seemed to radiate from the mage, and Lutecia found herself feeling very small and weak in comparison. Mentally, she wondered if now would be a good time to call on Garyuu.

In the past, Lutecia had had only two other relationships prior to Vivio, both boys she had known in middle school and high school. The first one had been when she'd been thirteen, and she'd genuinely liked the boy—but at thirteen she'd been young, and still struggling to make up for the childhood she'd missed out on, and the added weight of a relationship had hindered more than it had helped. The second one had been when she'd been sixteen and a little more capable of the responsibilities that dating brought; but that had been more of a "in lust" stage and less of a "in love" or even "in like" stage. In both relationships, she'd never met the parents.

And while relationship one had been "in like" and relationship two had been "in lust", Lutecia already knew that her developing romance with Vivio was "in love".

Oh, hell.

If she was going to die, she wanted to go out with _some _dignity.

"Nanoha-san." Her soft voice made Nanoha glance up from the report she'd been flipping through. "Forgive me if I seem blunt, but I doubt you came here just to fill in for General Yagami." Moving slowly, she backed up and sank down into a chair positioned in front of the desk, waiting for Nanoha's reaction. Nanoha, for her part, studied the younger woman for a few minutes in silence before laughing quietly, pushing the report away. "You've always been smart and right to the point," she murmured. "I like that about you, Lutecia-chan."

A few more minutes passed in silence, as Nanoha obviously fished for the right words to say and Lutecia resisted the urge to start squirming. Deciding to return the favor and be blunt, Nanoha leaned back in her chair and studied Lutecia quietly before speaking. "Vivio's in love with you, you know."

Straight to the point, Lutecia mused. Well, she could appreciate the honesty. "I know," she murmured.

"And are you willing to accept that?" Nanoha's eyes met hers evenly. "Love is a difficult emotion, in all aspects."

Lutecia gripped the arms of her chair to keep from fidgeting, but she held Nanoha's gaze. "To be honest, Nanoha-san, I've never been in love before," she admitted. "I won't deny that I dated other people before Vivio, but I can't deny that what I feel for her is different from what I felt in my previous relationships. I don't know if it's because I've known her for so long or what, but… she's different." She shrugged quietly. "I'm not sure what love is supposed to be, but I _do _know that I love her."

"How much?" Nanoha was amazingly calm, all things considered.

There was a moment of silence; Lutecia exhaled quietly and leaned back in her chair, gazing up at the ceiling as she searched for a suitable way to put her feelings into words. Realizing that she couldn't properly verbalize what she was feeling, she figured she had to try her best—she owed Vivio that much, at least. She met Nanoha's gaze again.

"I want her to be happy, and I'll do anything it takes to keep a smile on her face." A smile flitted across her face, weary and amused. "I want to hold her and protect her from all the bad things in the world. I don't want to hurt her. But I know she's plenty strong enough without me there, and I definitely know I'll hurt her. I won't mean to, and I certainly don't _want _to, but there's no doubt in my mind that I eventually _will_."

Nanoha would have doubted a declaration of undying love, a vow to never hurt Vivio and to go out of her way to prevent it. Hearing Lutecia's words, she knew they were true, and honest; perhaps not the most eloquent admission of love, but it was truer than most she'd heard in her lifetime. After a moment, she rested her hands on the desk and confronted her largest issue with the whole thing.

"Vivio is fifteen. You, Lutecia-chan, are nineteen. She won't be legal for at least another three years, tops."

This time, Lutecia winced. She'd _known _that was going to come up; while four years wasn't a major age difference, it was still significant enough to make a few people raise their brows. The Belkan summoner kept a perfectly straight face. "If it's any consolation, Nanoha-san, I'm still a virgin."

Nanoha's lips twitched, but she didn't falter. "Three years can be a very long time, Lutecia-chan," she said. "Are you willing to wait?"

Something inside Lutecia snapped.

"Nanoha-san, if I was merely interested in taking Vivio for a sexual run through the night, I would have done it years ago." Now in a bad mood, Lutecia scowled. "If it was just a matter of lust, I could throw caution to the wind and ravish her beyond her senses for a night and walk away like it meant nothing." She narrowed her eyes. "You've known me for nine years, Nanoha-san, and while I respect the fact that you're looking out for your daughter, if you ever imply that I'm willing to just use Vivio and toss her aside, I'll take my chances against one of your Starlight Breakers."

Nanoha studied the woman for a minute. Her whole body was tense and trembling, but from the urge to resist defending her love than any wrong against her pride. Her eyes all but snapped with fury, and her lips were tight and her hands clenched. Remembering a young, seventeen-year-old blonde with burgundy eyes that had faced Momoko the exact same way, she smiled.

"I believe you." Nanoha's voice was soft, but sure, and Lutecia gradually relaxed. "I can see it in your eyes; you mean everything you say. You're a lot like Fate-chan was back then." She smirked. "Vivio might not be willing to wait, you know."

Lutecia remembered meeting with Vivio earlier. "I believe it," she muttered. "But I'll wait until she's ready. Even if it's not… legal… I won't push her until she feels confident enough."

Nodding, pleased with herself, Nanoha stood and walked calmly towards Lutecia, knocking her lightly on the shoulder. "You pass, Lutecia-chan," she murmured. "For now, anyway. Keep her happy, or I'll take you up on that Starlight Breaker."

Lutecia grinned, feeling like a fool.

"I'm willing to face you anytime, Nanoha-san."

Nanoha laughed.

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"Nanoha-mama is in the office?!"

Sighing, Fate T. Harlaown grabbed Vivio by the back of her collar before she could bolt. She'd picked her daughter up from the study group at the library and had made the mistake of mentioning to her that Nanoha was filling in for Hayate. "Relax, Vivio," she murmured. "Your mother is crazy sometimes, but she won't do any serious damage."

The pair was walking down the hall to get Nanoha, but now Vivio was feeling anxious. She loved her mother dearly, but was all too familiar with her overprotective ways. "Can't I just check?" she pleaded, looking up at Fate. "Just peek in? Because if Nanoha-mama did anything to Cia—"

"What did I do?"

Nanoha's amused voice made both mother and daughter look up, and Vivio whooped, tackling Lutecia, who was walking alongside the older woman. Amused, Lutecia wrapped an arm around Vivio's waist and ruffled her hair. "Hey," she greeted, only to be cut off mid greeting as Vivio pulled away and kissed her thoroughly.

After a few minutes, the two broke apart. "What was that for?" Lutecia asked dumbly, wondering where Vivio had learned to kiss like that.

"Hmm, no reason." Vivio giggled and stepped back, grabbing Lutecia's hand. "Come on, Erio-nii and Caro-nee were looking for you."

"W-wait a minute, Vi—"

Watching her daughter pull Lutecia away (and noticing how Lutecia was putting up absolutely no fight whatsoever), Fate chuckled and turned to Nanoha, eyes sparkling. "Remind you of anyone we used to know?" she asked, taking Nanoha's hand. Nanoha smiled and squeezed the blonde's hand gently, watching the pair go with gentle eyes.

Unbidden the memory came to her, when she and Fate had been Vivio's age, her dragging Fate pretty much anywhere and Fate not complaining at all.

"Maybe just a little." She chuckled. "She'll do for now."

**The End**

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Aww, Nanoha's little girl is growing up. She's such an overprotective father. (laughs)

Read and review, please!


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